Baby Rock Band

I was looking through some old photography folders and found these pictures. Part of it was because Kiera tagged me to share the 5th picture in your 5th folder, or something. But it was a picture of a rug or couch or some other non-descript item from a shopping trip. . . too boring to post. These pictures were taken months ago. Staci came over and then she and I left to take Jack to Karate and left Abe with Heath. This is significant because it is literally the VERY FIRST time Heath has been left alone with a baby. Weird, I know, but he was an only child and didn't really have any cousins that he was close with. So, of course Heath went to the thing he knows best, Rock Band. He entertained Abe by playing drums with him. This is what they were doing when we came home. Too cute, and Abe looks like he is having a great time. Also, we learned that Abe loves to get his groove on to Nine Inch Nails. Haha!

I am a WINNER!!!

Last year, Heath subscribed me to a magazine called Digital Scrapbooking. Every issue they have a sweepstakes where you enter to win a bunch of scrapbooking stuff. I enter every time. Yesterday I got an email saying I am the grand prize winner!! $1700 worth of prizes. YAY!

Here is a preview of my loot (click to enlarge):


It's a pretty cool prize. It's so fun to win something.

I think this is a preview for the contest I really want to win. . . . HGTV DreamHome in Sonoma, HERE WE COME!!

http://blogs.hgtv.com/hgtv/dreamhome/2008/11/as_promised_we_present_the.html

Disneyland Pictures!! They are finally here!

Okay, so two weekends ago my little sister Amy and I went to Disneyland and California Adventure for two days. Just the two of us. What an adventure. We had so much fun. We dressed the same everyday. Don't ask why. It was just fun. Some highlights of the trip include:

• Amy smearing tater tots and ketchup all over my face to save it from getting on my shirt.
• Our pack packs filled with snacks.
• Going to every bathroom in the entire park, at least once. Some two or three times.
  
• Being asked a dozen times if we were actually twins. And then having them FREAK OUT when we would tell them we are 13 years apart.
  
• Singing Feliz Navidad a hundred times and maybe being on TV.
  
• When that guy thought Amy was a famous singer or wanted her to be.
  
• Amy getting picked to be the star in High School Musical.
• The new Toy Story ride!
  
• Getting stuck on Pirates for 30 minutes. Yo Ho!
• The tiki room dance.
  
• Going to dinner with Greg & Brittany.
• Gothic Day.
• Amy losing her ticket and then being saved by the girl at lost & found. We heart her.
• Amy's video of her on the Maliboomer. We would watch it over & over in line and we would laugh until we cried a hundred times and then everyone around us would want to watch it and we would show it to them. I am going to try to post that on here, but I can't figure out how to switch it from vertical to horizontal. :(
  
• Clam chowder in a bread bowl.
  
• Having the most PERFECT spot for the fireworks show and Fantasmic.
• Hot chocolate.
  
• Being the VERY LAST ones to ride space mountain and getting an entire train to ourselves. OWN TRAIN! OWN TRAIN! WOOOOOOOO!!!

Halloween Party

Last weekend, my good friend Brianne graduated and they threw a graduation/Halloween party that was super fun. Here is the evidence.

Heath & I went as Joy & Earl from the TV show, My Name is Earl.

Try to ignore the fact that my husband looks possessed. And notice the small details, like "the list" in his hands and the bubbalicious peeking out of my pocket. (He was supposed to be closing his eyes because Earl never is able to take a picture with his eyes open.)

We couldn't get the moustache to stick and ended up drawing it on, but check out those fake nails! They also made me completely handicapped. I couldn't do anything in them.

Britani as a devil and Ian as a black angel. So cute. I told Britani she should cut her hair like that. (Minus the red streaks and horns of course.)

Darshon, the butterfly queen. Her hair was my work of art. I think she looked amazing & beautiful.

Naters, uncostumed, but he gets credit for showing up because he was super sick. :(

Okay, somehow I didn't get any pictures of Brianne & Ryan. They dressed up as Rock Band characters and they looked ridiculously awesome. If anyone has any, please send them to me. Thanks!

My Bangs: A Brief History

There are few things in this life greater than getting your hair cut and colored and there are few people who do it better than Darcy.

Last week I went to Darcy after having spent the last few years going elsewhere for various reasons. (Moving out of state, trading hair for massage, etc) But I decided I needed Darcy again, and I am renewed in my belief that she is the best.

One of the great things is that Darcy knows me. She knows what I like and knows that I am willing to try new things and so she makes great suggestions for changes in my hair. My hair usually turns out best if I just let her do whatever she wants.

Last week she suggested bangs. Full bangs, not just the side sweeping kind.

Apparently full bangs are making a big comeback.

I don’t think I would have ever thought of requesting this style because the last time I had them was junior high in the early 90’s. And I am scarred as that was the era of the exploding bang. Carefully designed works of art, intricately styled, and making us look utterly ridiculous. (See exhibit A)

Okay, Go ahead and laugh, I know I have.

Though only in my dreams could I get my hair to be as big as my junior high best friend, Krisha. (sorry Krish but those are some pretty sweet bangs and wings!)


Well, I overcame this stigma and took the plunge. And to my surprise, this is the way my hair naturally wants to lay, straight forward. But, I really shouldn’t really have been surprised. Check out the evidence of my early days. (Exhibit B)

Cute as a button, I know.

There's a New Yarn Lady in Town

My Grandma Arnett is a world famous knitter. . . well, okay, maybe not world famous, but she is renowned in our family. For as long as I can remember, she always had a knitting or crocheting project in her purse. She has an entire closet dedicated to the stocking of yarn and there are several favorite family stories involving her storing yarn in bizarre places, like the washing machine. If you know my Grandma, or have even met her one time, chances are you have at least SOMETHING knitted or crocheted from her. Well, I thought that it would be a shame for me not to learn this talent from her as it is obviously something she loves. So, I requested a quick lesson. She taught me a few patterns and I worked on some dish cloths. I soon tired of those and wanted to move on to bigger projects. I am almost finished with a baby blanket for Dylan and have just begun one for Cali. I am still a beginner, but I hope to someday be as good as my Grandma. It is fun, relaxing, and extremely addicting. I am grateful that I was able to learn this from my wonderful Grandma as I aspire to be just like her someday. I can now be found with a yarn project in my purse and have admittedly spent an ENTIRE day unraveling a ball of yarn that was knotted up. Incidentally, the blanket on my lap in these pictures was a given to me from Grandma. :)

You Run?

One of the greatest dialogues ever spontaneously spoken occurred between my cousin Staci and me. Several months ago, I headed with Staci and her two children to San Diego to relax on the beach and frolic in the California sun. In preparation for this trip, I purchased a running skort that I planned on using as a swimsuit cover up. This basically consisted of lycra shorts with an attached short skirt on top of it. It is intended for running, but I loved it for a cover up because it was longer than traditional swim skirts and I really liked that it had the shorts built in. On the drive out to California, I told Staci about my new find and she thought it sounded perfect. So on a short pit-stop at Target to let the kids out of the car for awhile, she purchased her own pair.

Later, while at the beach, I got out my skort and was putting it on when I declared, "I've decided that I am going to actually wear these for running." Staci got excited about this statement and proclaimed, "I was thinking the SAME THING!" She then went on to recite all of the reasons why she thought this skort would be perfect for running in. As she went down her list, my eyes got wide with excitement, "You run?" I questioned. She cast her eyes downward to the sand and said ashamed, "No." My eyes followed hers downward as I sighed, "Yeah, me neither."

We instantly burst out laughing and Staci spewed blue Powerade all over the beach as we realized how ridiculous we were.

We might not run, but if we ever did, we know what we'll be wearing. . . .

Well, recently I have got out that skort and started running. Well more accurately jog-walking. It started because a massage client of mine has been coming in weekly in preparation for a marathon that she is going to run. Many moons ago, before my mission, I ran almost every day and really wanted to try and run a marathon. It never happened but it is on my life list of things I want to do. Well, this client inspired me and I realized that there is no reason why I can't start running and train for a marathon now. I have been taking it slow, but my goal is to be able to run the ½ marathon in Tempe in January and maybe run a full one sometime next year. It is a lofty goal, but I know that I am capable of it.

And I am proud to report, that the skort is just as perfect for running as we predicted it would be.

The Fam - Look How Cute We Are

Serious.


Seriously Fun.


Sept. 17 Edit:
Is this better Ryan?

I Would Die For That

Until Next Year SYTYCD

CONGRATULATIONS JOSH!! WE LOVED YOU!!

Well, it's been a great season. I loved so many parts of it. There were so many great dances that it's hard to pick my favorite. But my favorite Mary Murphy moment by FAR is this one.

The dance is one of my favs of the season but if you go to 2:15 and watch what Mary says. . .
I laugh until I cry EVERYTIME!! Heart. . . . Soul. . . Bahahahahahahahaha!!! And Joshua's face is PRICELESS!!

It was weird last night not to have a SYTYCD party. I miss it already. Kiera & Ericka came over almost every single Wednesday and Thursday, Nate came several times, and Mom, Dad, Eileen, Rylee, and Kamry came for the finale and it was a blast. Until next year. . ..

An old friend from my childhood. . .

Anne of Green Gables. I recently picked up the first book and started reading it again. Man, I forgot how much I love Anne, Marilla, Matthew, Gilbert and all the others on Prince Edward Island. I have all six books from the series, but I confess I have only ever read the first one. My real love of these stories comes from the movies/mini-series they made in the 80's. It's 8 hours of pure joy. I often watched it when I was sick as that was the only time I had that much time to devote to it. I haven't seen the movie in over a decade and now am determined to find it on DVD. I could have an Anne Party!! Also, my lifelong desire to visit Prince Edward Island has been reignited. This is the 100th year since the printing of the first book so they are having all sorts of festivities there. This would have been the year to go. . . *sigh*

Flagstaff

So Darshon had this incredible hankering to get out of the heat and up into the pine trees and I am so glad she did. We went up just for one night last weekend and it was a perfect trip. Saturday afternoon a big thunderstorm came in and it rained for just an hour or so and then it was sunny and glorious and cool. We shopped and ate outside. We stayed in a "haunted" hotel, The Monte Vista. Though we never saw any ghosts, we did stay in The Robert Englund room who played Freddy Krueger. Hahaha!! Love the orange walls. What you don't see is the gold metallic border on the top.



The highlight for me: Touring the Riordan Mansion. It was 13,000 square feet of Arts & Crafts style wonderfulness. I don't know what it is about old houses that makes my heart sing. And especially one as unique as this with so much history and beauty. It is preserved so wonderfully with original furnishings from the home.

The Lewis Family Visits!

A few weekends ago, Ryan & Jenny & Zaiden came for a visit. We had so much fun with them. It was so wonderful to have a baby in the house. Moco got really jealous of Z because he didn't like someone coming in and taking the baby role. We went to sunsplash on Monday with Jake & Diane and kids and had a blast. I only wish that I had taken more pictures! I didn't take a single picture with me or Jenny in it. Next time.

Finally! Another Post!

So, I know you're supposed to blog periodically and consistently, but consistency has never really been one of my strong points. I am going to try to post more regular, but for now, you may just get a whole bunch of posts all in one day and then not see another post for a few months. Oh, well. That's just how I roll. . . .

Photobooth Fun

There is something about photobooth pictures that are so fun. I just love these. I'm not sure why Heath thinks he's a gangster though.

My Babies

Lucas & Moco, the furry loves of my life. To some it may seem ridiculous how much I baby them and love them, but I will say that they have saved my emotional life. They are small bundles of love that can satisfy some of the void that comes from being childless. They are something for me to cuddle and nurture and love. Perhaps I am crazy, A good portion of my day is spent serenading the dogs with songs I've made up about them.

Lucas holds an extra special place in my heart as he was the first one to heal it. He came to me when we were still living in the dungeon and at the time, my Dad would not allow me to get a dog while we were living there. One day while at lunch with my Dad, I started talking about how hard it was to not have children and I started crying. A few weeks later, he brought Lucas home to me. :) He is such a softy. :) I love my Dad so much. And now, I think he loves the dogs more than I do sometimes. . and they definitely love him the most!

I heart SYTYCD

For anyone that knows me, it's no secret that I love So, You Think You Can Dance. I don't know what it is about this show, but I have watched every season faithfully and I love everything about it. I even went to a couple live tapings when we lived in Cali. I think that dancing is in my soul, even though I don't dance at all. I will be watching it every week and would like to extend an open invitation to anyone who would like to drive out to the QC for a SYTYCD party every Thursday. Just let me know that you are coming. Maybe I will even whip up some cookies! :)

Our New House

So, the most exciting thing in our life right now is that we just moved into our brand new home this past weekend. It is our first home and we are excited to finally be in it. It was a fun experience picking out all of the design elements and watching it being built. We had perfect weather last weekend and had great helpers. We are mostly moved in, but it will be a slow process decorating it and making it perfect. So far, WE LOVE IT!!
The night that we got our keys, Mom, Amy, Josh, Steve, & Kiera all came over and brought Rigatony's take out. We ate on a card table and camping chairs in the middle of the living room. We just talked and laughed all night in our empty house. It was super fun and felt like we were camping. What a good memory! I have a great family!

My first Post!!!

I have wanted to start a blog for a very long time. Two years ago I created one, posted one time and then forgot about it. I know that no one is surprised by that. One of the reasons I never really felt like doing a blog was because most people just fill it with pictures of their adorable children because of course they are fun to look at and do and say hilarious things. But I realized that even though there are no kids in our family yet, our life is still fun and I want to share that and want to record our life for our future children. Also, Staci started her blog, and I can't let her outdo me! haha!